Press Releases: 2013

“I support the President’s call for authorizing limited but decisive military action in response to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons in Syria. While recognizing that the details of the authorization language have yet to be finalized, the use of chemical weapons, including against innocent children, is intolerable and cannot go unanswered.

"President Obama has carefully weighed the case for taking action along with our international partners to respond forcefully to the Syrian regime's deadly and nefarious use of chemical weapons. Now it is time for Congress, as the representatives of the American people, to do the same.

The repeated use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government against its own people is an appalling and blatant violation of international laws and abuse of human rights that cannot be tolerated and must be condemned.

“Fifty years ago, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood here and put into mighty words the hopes, the dreams, the frustrations of millions of Americans, black and white, that the people of this land were not yet fully free – and that none could enjoy the promise of our democracy until all could enjoy it.

“The Attorney General’s announcement today of new guidelines for prosecutors to help reduce incarceration of non-violent, low-level drug offenders is an important step toward achieving the Administration’s goal of identifying reforms that will ensure that federal laws are enforced more fairly and efficiently.

“Forty-eight years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, ending discriminatory practices that had prevented millions of Americans from participating fully in our democracy. Regardless of one’s race, color, or creed, every American is equally entitled to cast a ballot and have that vote counted accurately...

“While it is disappointing that the Pentagon has had to impose furlough days for civilian defense workers, thanks to cost-saving efforts announced by the Pentagon today, the eleven furlough days employees had been expected to take have now been reduced to six.

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor today on how little the Republican Leadership has accomplished before adjourning for the month of August. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery and a link to the video:

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) will serve as the senior Member of a group of 37 House Democrats visiting Israel and the West Bank from August 5th to 11th to learn more about issues critical to the U.S.-Israel relationship and international security.

“This morning’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that our economy added 161,000 private sector jobs in July and that the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since 2008 is encouraging news. Our economy continues to add jobs, but Congress must do more to achieve the level of growth necessary to put every American still seeking employment back to work.

“Once again, Republicans have succeeded at taking a bad bill and making it worse. I am very disappointed by reports that Republican leaders are planning to seek a $40 billion cut to nutrition assistance that helps the most vulnerable in our communities stave off hunger and poverty.

“I was deeply disappointed to see that Senate Republicans voted nearly unanimously to block consideration of the Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill today, even while a bipartisan majority of senators voted to move forward with the bill.

“Well, certainly the strategy has been, and continues to be, to focus on the creation of jobs. We believe that's the number one priority of Americans. We believe it ought to be the number one priority of the Congress, and clearly, as you've seen in recent weeks -- but frankly through the last four and a half years -- it's been the number one priority of the President of the United States. The creation of jobs is critical if we're going to get the country to where it needs to be. In order to do that, we need to invest in education and infrastructure and innovation and we need to have a fiscally responsible policy.”

“Thank you all for being here. You see our logos, of course, which you’ve seen now for years, about Make It In America. I’m pleased to be joined by my colleagues who are introducing or explaining eight of our Make It In America bills. We’ll be talking a lot about Make It In America during the August break.

"Today's report from the Institute for Supply Management, which shows that our manufacturing sector growth accelerated in July, is further proof that America has what it takes to revitalize and sustain a strong manufacturing base.